


Stubborn Injured Centaur

by Huntress8611



Series: An Odd Friendship [1]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 15:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9332351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress8611/pseuds/Huntress8611





	

_Insert a long, wonderfully written paragraph about a bloody battle on the beach at Cair Paravel here._

Edmund, Peter, and Susan were galloping along the beach, picking up the wounded and bringing them to the medical tent. Lucy was treating the wounds with the help of the medical staff, using her Cordial on only the most severe ones.

Once the older three had helped as many of the wounded as they could, Edmund and Susan went to assist Lucy while Peter made one last round.

"Sir Peter! Sir Peter!" he heard. 'Only one person called him that,' thought Peter.

"Oreius! Where are you?" he called out.

"King Peter! Over here!" he heard. Peter spun his horse around, galloping over to the fallen centaur.

"What ever has happened to you Oreius?" asked Peter, jumping off of his steed and jogging over to his general.

"A sword has slashed my right, front leg and my flank is full of arrows. I will be able to walk if your steed is kind enough to allow me to use him for support," replied Oreius in a pained tone.

"Hey, Fenris, do you mind helping Oreius?"

"Of course not, High King," replied Fenris, moving over so that he is standing next to the fallen centaur, bending his head to assist him in getting up.

Once the centaur was standing, Peter vaulted himself back onto Fenris. The trio slowly made their way back to Cair Paravel, the centaur leaning on Fenris the whole way.

When they arrived at the medical area, Peter pushed Oreius into one of the beds designed for a centaur. Oreius, as usual, refused to allow Lucy to assist him, and then insisted that he wished to recover in his room. Peter complied, but followed Oreius back to his room.

Once they arrived, Peter told Oreius, "You might not have to stay in the medical wing, but you haven't treated any of your wounds and I know you will refuse help. I, as your High King, insist that you allow me to assist with your recovery."

Oreius sighed, knowing that he couldn't refuse.

"I'm sorry. I hate ordering people around, but I need my general recovered as quickly as possible. Now," said Peter, "you are going to lay down."

Peter then pushed Oreius into the bed, the centaur protesting.

Peter gently grabbed the centaur's bad leg and maneuvered it so that Oreius couldn't hide it. He then grabbed a box of medical supplies and sat on the leg to prevent Oreius from accidentally kicking him or purposefully pulling away.

"This is probably going to hurt," warned Peter, before pouring a disinfectant on a soft cloth and cleaning out the deep gouge on his leg.

He placed his other hand on the shoulder of the injured leg, pushing to restrict movement. Once he had cleaned it, he quickly stitched and bandaged the leg, before moving off of the centaur's leg and assisting him in tucking it back under his body.

Peter then moved so that he was facing the arrows sticking out of Oreius' flank, but on the side of the centaur that the legs were not. Looking up to Oreius' face and seeing the centaur's pained expression, he laid his hand next to the arrows and waited until his face had relaxed. He slid his hand so that it was flat with the arrow between his thumb and first finger.

"Are these just regular arrows or are they poisoned or barbed?" asked Peter.

“They aren't barbed, but you'll have to check for poison," said Oreius.

"Take deep breaths," instructed Peter. "I need you to relax your muscles so I can pull the arrows out."

The centaur complied, and Peter quickly pulled out the arrow, drawing a hard flinch from Oreius.

Examining the arrow, Peter said, "Sorry, but on the bright side, it's not poisoned." Peter quickly pulled out three more arrows, leaving only one to go. "Last one," muttered Peter before quickly pulling it out.

He looked up to see how Oreius was doing, as he had gotten shot by arrows before and know how much it hurt to have them pulled out. Frankly, he was surprised that Oreius had been able to handle the pain this well. Peter knew how much the centaur hated to appear weak, but even Peter shed a few tears when Edmund pulled an arrow out of his arm, and that was only one arrow. The centaur was looking down, his breathing uneven.

Peter decided that he was going to give the centaur a break, seeing as he was much too stubborn to ask for one.

"Why did you stop?" asked Oreius, confused.

"Because you, my friend, are too stubborn to tell me when you need a break. I know what having arrows pulled out feels like. You're too stubborn for your own good," answered Peter. "Susan had to set Ed and I straight about a hundred times before it was stuck in our brains that just because we are kings doesn't mean that we can never show weakness. If you don't start letting people help you, I'll have to get her to lecture you about it, and that isn't fun."

"Fine," grumbled Oreius, "I'd prefer to not have to sit through any more of Queen Susan's lectures."

"How many times do I have to tell you Oreius. It's Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. We're friends. We call you Oreius, you call us by our names," said Peter, sighing.

"Okay," said Oreius, "but shouldn't you finish up with the arrow wounds?"

"Good idea," said Peter, "Do you mind if I?” asked Peter, gesturing to the centaur's back.

"I think that it's probably a good idea, Peter. It will keep me from accidentally kicking you," answered Oreius.

Peter sat on the centaur's back as if he was going horseback riding, only facing backwards.

"Sorry, Oreius, I'm going to have to clean these out," warned Peter, stroking one hand up and down the centaur's side, holding the disinfectant with the other hand.

He quickly poured it over the arrow wounds, cleaning them out thoroughly before resuming stroking the shaking centaur's side.

Peter quickly stitched each spot the arrows pierced before standing and walking over to the centaur's head.

"I need you to stand up so I can wrap the wounds. Lean on me so you don't fall over."

As the centaur stood up, he was only able to use three legs and slipped. It would have been fine, except that he landed directly on top of his injured leg. When he landed on the leg, he let out a shrill, horse-like scream.

Peter quickly knelt in front of him and pulled the shaking centaur into a tight hug. Oreius leaned into the contact, burying his face in Peter's shirt and fisting his hands into the material, trying to get a handle on the bolts of pain shooting from his leg. His breath came in shuddering bursts, and he was barely able to keep the tears at bay. Peter rested his chin on Oreius' head, rubbing one hand firmly up and down his back.

"I'm sorry, that was a bad idea, I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry, Oreius. I'll figure out a way to wrap it without you standing. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean for that to happen," murmured Peter. "Let some of it out, Oreius. It really helps. If you bottle everything up, it will just make it worse. I'm your friend. Please, trust me."

At that, the centaur stopped trying so hard to hide everything. He didn't completely let go, but he let go enough so that he was softly crying.

"That's better," muttered Peter. "You have to let emotion show every once in a while. I'm glad you trust me enough to actually show weakness around me and not just kick me out."

They stayed like that for a bit until Oreius was done. When he pulled away, Peter quickly found a way to wrap the arrow wounds and then sat back down next to him, pulling him into a one-armed hug.

"Can we pretend none of this ever happened?" asked Oreius.

"As far as everyone else knows, nothing happened except me healing you and I don't plan on changing that. I won't pretend it never happened though. You have to realize that you can trust people with more than having your back in battle."

"I know," mumbled Oreius. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Peter said softly, "Anytime. And I do mean that. If you ever want to talk, come find me. I know Lucy, Susan, Ed, and I have each other, but sometimes you need to talk to someone else. Susan made friends with her servant, the dryad, Lucy talks to Mr. Tumnus, and Ed is friends with some of the merpeople."

"What about you, Peter?" wondered Oreius.

Peter shrugged, causing Oreius to sigh. "Peter, you should really take your own advice. How about this, if I come to you, you come to me. Deal?"

"Alright, you stubborn centaur. Deal," said Peter.

"Now, you need to sleep," instructed Peter.

At Oreius' protest, he said, "I'm staying here because if I don't you won't sleep, and I want to make sure you don't reinjure anything while you sleep."

Oreius pretended to be upset about Peter staying. He wasn't really upset, he just didn't want Peter to know that the real reason he didn't want to sleep was that he didn't want to be alone. Peter threw a blanket over him and moved to lean against his uninjured side. Quickly, Oreius fell asleep, and when he woke up, Peter was still there, only he was asleep and using his side as a pillow.


End file.
